


The Beauty in the Forest

by huxduxtuxlux



Category: Dredd (2012), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gender Trouble, Kidnapping, Knight Ren, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Prince Hux, Separated Twins, Techienician, evil clan leader/adopted mother, fairytale, fairytale AU, knight matt, prince techie, stolen prince au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-03 23:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huxduxtuxlux/pseuds/huxduxtuxlux
Summary: A missing Prince can't stay lost forever





	1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, the Royal Huxes suffered a terrible loss. Their twin sons, the princes Armitage and Breck, were beloved by all their subjects, but for one cruel woman and her evil clan. The woman, called Ma-Ma by her followers, was long imprisoned by King Brendol, and swore to make him suffer as she had. He had taken what was most precious to her—her freedom. Ma-Ma decided to take his precious princes from him in turn.

Ma-Ma’s abduction of the princes, however, was thwarted by the good knights of the kingdom, and two of her evil cronies were killed in the process. Yet all the love and strength of the good knights could not fully protect the royal children. Ma-Ma succeeded in kidnapping young Prince Breck, then not even two years old.  

The king and queen and all their knights mobilized to find the child. Civilians and subjects, too, mounted horses and donkeys, hoping to find the child and bring him home. But after years and years of searching, the cause seemed all but lost.

 

That is, until 21 years later, when one knight-in-training spotted a mysterious beauty deep in the Peach Trees Forest.

And that, my friends, is where our story begins.


	2. An Encounter

Matthew Rodar had just finished his tenth week of training under the royal knights’ leader, Kylo Ren. As such, he was granted a week’s vacation and a horse from the royal fleet to explore the kingdom and outlying land to his heart’s content. Matt had heard rumors of a small village just outside the southern border of the kingdom where men openly shared and indulged in desires Matt had long held secret. After a lot of time in close quarters with Kylo Ren’s eight-pack and steely stares, pushing away thoughts that beat at the borders of his brain, he felt a three-day’s journey to this rumored promise land worth it.

It was in the late afternoon on the second day of his journey when Matt stopped by a babbling brook near the south end of Peach Trees Forest. His canteen was nearly empty, and he knew his newly acquired steed was thirsty as well. As he approached the water, he heard a low melodic hum coming from a few yards down. With his hand to his forehead to shade from the sun, Matt looked south to see a beautiful creature, illuminated by the bright noon sun, sitting by the water. Matt took the creature in, foot to head. Long and thin pale legs covered in fine golden hairs stuck out from underneath a tied-up patchwork skirt. A gauzy white material covered the torso, leaving long freckled arms uncovered. A cascade of gorgeous copper hair, peppered with small braids, fell across the slight but strong shoulders, framing a striking face: a large, strong nose, pillowy lips, stunning cheekbones, and bright-blue cat eyes focused on nothing in particular. The creature was twisting some kind of plant stem into an animal shape with delicate fingers, but looked off into the horizon while doing so. After a bit more studying, Matt concluded that the creature probably lacked sight. 

All it took was one step in the creature’s direction for their head to perk up, alert. “Who’s there?” they called, voice lower than Matt expected. “Mama? Caleb? Hello?”

Matt cleared his throat, trying his best to non-threatening. “Good afternoon—” Matt hazarded an unsure guess, “—fair maiden. My name is Sir Matthew, of the Hux Royal Kingdom. I was just passing through and my horse and I could use some water. May we drink from your stream?”

The red-haired beauty cocked their head in Matt’s direction as if to study him, but their eyes did not land on him at all. “You may…. How did you end up here?”

“I just decided to ride my horse south of the kingdom, in search of a new village to visit.”

“Why?”

Matt was confused. “Why what?”

“Why find a new village? Is there something wrong with the old one?”

“No, no, I’m just on a vacation and wanted to explore somewhere new.”

“Somewhere new,” the creature hummed as if testing the phrase, continuing to twist their sculpture. Matt, after scooping some water and tying off his horse near the bank, walked towards the beauty, curious.

“What is that you’re making?” Matt asked.

The redhead blushed. “It’s meant to be a horse. Does it look like one?”

Matt drew even closer and inspected it. “Yes. Yes it does.” He was quite impressed. “Have you ever seen a horse?”

“Yes. I’m only day-blind, you see.”

“What?” asked Matt. He’d never heard that term before.

“I can see at night,” the creature explained. “My mother says I was born cursed. My eyes only function when the sun goes down. But I have exceptional night vision.”

“Wow, I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone else with such a… condition.”

The redhead smiled and extended a long, delicate hand. “My name is Princess T’kee of Peach Trees. I like your voice, Sir Matthew. It’s very…kind. You may sit near me if you like.”

Matt did, eagerly folding his legs next to the princess. “Thank you, your majesty. I’ve never heard that name before, either. It’s quite pretty.”

“Thank you. It means ‘found one’ in my mother’s clan language.”

“And you’re a princess?”

T’kee laughed with a snort. Matt found it endearing. “Of four cottages and this little stream, yes.”

T’kee tilted their head toward Matt, who now saw a purplish bruise under T’kee’s left eye. “What happened to you?” Matt asked. “You have a black eye.”

“Oh, nothing,” T’kee said nonchalantly. “I took a bit too long making supper last night. It’s nothing.”

“A princess should never be punished,” said Matt. 

At that, T’kee leaned toward Matt conspiratorially. “I’ve got a secret for you.” T’kee’s voice dropped to a low whisper. “I’m not really a princess. And I’m not really my mother’s daughter. In fact, I’m not sure I’m even a daughter at all.”

T’kee turned their empty gaze back out over the stream and smiled sadly. Matt felt a sudden surge of tenderness, a desire to hold this not-princess of the forest. A total stranger. And yet, the more he looked at T’kee, the more familiar their face seemed. Matt had seen that nose, those eyes (though, perhaps they were green, on another face?), those lips, those cheeks. And he’d seen that particular shade of shiny copper locks, though much shorter and neater. Matt stared and stared until it hit him.

T’kee’s lovely face was nearly identical to that of his employer, the Crown Prince Armitage Hux. 

How very bizarre.


	3. Nightfall

A whistle and an angry woman's shout called T'kee back to their cottage, but before sprinting away, they said to Sir Matthew: "I would like to speak with you again. Meet me here an hour after sundown, if you can."

The knight was intrigued by this beautiful person who looked so like the crown prince. Matthew knew of the tragedy that had struck the kingdom when he was just a baby, of the prince who was stolen by a madwoman. But this lovely forest princess couldn't be the abducted prince, could they?

In the few hours Matt had to wait, he walked around the area with his horse, careful to avoid the cottages, afraid his presence, if spotted by Mama, would bring harm to T'Kee. While he wandered, the knight pondered what he knew, trying to determine if T'kee really could be the stolen Prince Breck.

The first factor was age. T'kee seemed to be in their early 20s, and the prince was nearly 23, so that added up. And of course there was that face. The similarities between the features of Prince Armitage and T'kee were astonishing, and Matthew thought if he put them side by side, they'd be nearly identical. Of course, T'kee was a bit thinner in the face, having not enjoyed the royal feasts Prince Armitage had. And there were those eyes. Bright blue and "day-blind," as opposed to Prince Armitage's light green. Still, though. They were of roughly the same height, Matthew noticed when T'kee stood to run off, and they shared a slender, wiry build. 

But was T'kee a princess? That is to say, was T'kee a young woman? Matt was unsure, and T'kee seemed to be as well. The stolen Prince Breck was a boy, of course, but was it possible T'kee is, too? Raised as something else by his captor, in order to keep him hidden, perhaps? Matthew had never heard of such a strategy, but supposed it wasn't impossible.

The biggest problem with Matthew's theory, he concluded, was not gender. It was location. The spot Matt stood in now, where T'kee lived, was not more than a day and a half on horseback from the royal castle. So if T'kee were indeed the stolen prince, why would his abductor stay so close to the kingdom? And why had T'kee not yet been found?

Matthew turned these questions over in his mind, rolling them around on his tongue, wondering how to approach the subject with T'kee, or if he even should. Did T'kee like their life out here? Despite the black eye and sad smile, T'kee didn't seem absolutely desperate to leave. And Matthew questioned the ethics of his own motivation. He'd be a hero if he brought the stolen prince home, so was he just hungry for fame and praise? He had been feeling overlooked, eager to prove himself. Perhaps he was making connections out of nothing due to his own desire for greatness. And that wasn't honorable, in Matthew's estimate.

All Matt knew for sure was that he found T'kee absolutely beautiful and fascinating. He'd give up his whole trip to sit by the brook, talking with T'kee, watching them bend grass into figures with those fine, delicate hands. His fascination and infatuation were confirmed when, an hour after nightfall, T'kee came jogging (it was almost like floating, so effortless and light did they move) toward the stream, and Matt's stomach flipped and dived. He tied up his horse and walked toward T'kee, trying to contain his eagerness.

"Sir Matthew," T'kee said, looking up into Matt's face. Their eyes glowed bright like a blue lantern, casting a halo of light around their face. Matt was speechless. "It is lovely to see your face."

Matt noticed that T'kee was dressed differently than they had been during the day. They wore tan shorts that ended just above the knee, and a gauzy sleeveless shirt that was just a bit too short, revealing fine ginger hairs in a line under the belly button, disappearing into the short trousers. Matt tried not to stare.

"Is it worse than you expected?" Matt asked with a nervous laugh; he knew he wasn't terribly handsome, but hoped that maybe T'kee's isolated past would mean they were less judgemental about beauty.

"No, not at all," T'kee said sweetly, sitting down and pulling Matt down beside. T'kee dangled their bare feet in the water, all the while never taking their glowing eyes off Matthew. "You are very handsome, Sir Matthew. Just as I expected."

Matt snorted. "You're very kind, Princess."

T'kee shook their head. "You needn't call me that. It doesn't suit me, don't you think?"

"Well, I don't know. You are beautiful and lovely, and that seems princess-like, I think?"

"I've always felt the title was sort of in mocking. The way she says it. Mama, I mean."

"I'll call you whatever you like, T'kee." Sir Matthew smiled, and T'kee grinned back. That grin was so like that of Prince Armitage, but without any of the malice or mischief. "You do remind me a bit of a fairy tale princess, though, I must say."

"How so?" T'kee inquired. "I'm afraid the only fairy tale I really know is that of the three bears and the small female trespasser. I was told that, I believe, because Mama was anxious about the cottage being ransacked." 

"Well, because..." Matt stopped and thought. "Why are you blind in the day? Do you know what causes that...condition?"

T'kee shrugged. "Mama says it's some kind of photosensitivity issue."

"Have you always been that way?"

T'kee looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. I mean, for as long as I remember, yes, I've only been able to see at night. But...I have dreams about the sun, you know? Seeing it. Seeing what everything looks like in the daytime. And how could I see that in my dreams if I've never seen it in real life? It doesn't feel imagined. It feels completely real. Mama won't tell me, but I think I had normal sight when I was very very little. I must've."

Matt sighed. "You've never heard the story of Rapunzel? Or Snow White? Or Sleeping Beauty or the Little Mermaid?"

T'kee shook their head no. Matt continued. "Well, in those stories there is always a princess, a real true princess, who is stolen away or cursed by an evil witch. In Rapunzel, she is locked in a tower. In Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, she is poisoned into a nearly never-ending sleep. And in the Little Mermaid, her voice is stolen by the sea witch. In all these stories, a knight or a prince, her one true love, must come and save her, awaken her with a kiss or restore her voice with marriage."

"Huh." T'kee was pensive. Matt couldn't stop staring at the freckles on their fair shoulder. Lord help him, he was smitten. "That seems a little unfair to the young women. That they can only be saved by some strange man coming and kissing them while they sleep?"

Matt chuckled. "You're right. I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right, it is strange and unfair."

"And you think I'm like these princesses...because my mother is cruel and you think my day-blindness is a curse and you think I'm beautiful?"

Matt nodded. "Basically, yes."

"Hmm." T'kee tapped at their chin with a long, slender finger. "And you're the handsome knight who's meant to save me?"

"I guess that's how I was thinking of it, but then you said the bit about it being disrespectful and unfair so I'll take it bac-"

"Let's find out if you're right." T'kee said with a wry grin, shimmying closer to Matt. "Kiss me."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments keep me going :)


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